Definetly do it asap. I asked two of my profs for LOR's in early february and I'm still waiting for one of them to finish up. Act now...especially if one of your recommenders teaches legal writing, b/c they will soon be swamped with grading motions (if they arent already). Just suck it up and do it, if they're really worthy of writing a letter on your behalf, they'll understand your desire to transfer.

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QUAKER OATS

I was really worried about it also. One of my profs, a long time fixture at our school particularly worried me. This professor, however, could not be more supportive. This professor, made some good points about my current school, but did not try to sell me and was quite realistic.

The other prof was extremely supportive as well.

Just ask, its part of their job and they are professionals. They will understand.

I agree with Learned Hand. Who would you rather write a positive letter for: someone who supposedly thinks highly of you, yet doesn't have the time nor the courage to speak with you OR someone who thinks highly of you, knows what she wants, and goes after it.

Once you get over the nervousness of telling your profs you want out, you will likely engage in good conversation...allowing them to learn a little bit more about you as a person. In addition, they tend to give good advice. My prof recommended to me that I go talk with our school's assistant dean of admissions to inquire about what they look for from transfer students. At first I looked at him like he was crazy...that the dean of admissions from our school would give a student advice on how to leave their school. He told me that she would be more than happy to give me advice about what they look for in applicants and he was 100% correct...she gave me great pointers (besides the obvious get good grades speech) and actually told me that my odds of transferring were much better than I had thought to begin with!

The worst that could happen is (a) that prof will say they don't feel comfortable writing a letter for you or (b) they get insulted and throw a hissy fit at the fact that you want to transfer. If that prof couldn't understand or sympathize with your motivations for leaving, then f'em and move on to a different prof.

I have always asked for letters through e-mail. This includes the letter I received for my georgetown transfer application. I can see why it may be advantageous to do it in person but it's certainly not a big deal to do it over e-mail. Professors write letters all the time; you're not asking them for some huge thing.